Affidavit: Pilot Flying J official targeted Hispanics

Apr. 24, 2013
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Jimmy Haslam, CEO of Pilot Flying J, enters a news conference at the company headquarters on April 19 in Knoxville, Tenn. A Pilot Flying J employee told investigators that Haslam, who is also the owner of the Cleveland Browns, knew about rebate fraud at the truck stop chain his family owns, according to an FBI affidavit unsealed Thursday. / Wade Payne, AP

The affidavit released after an April 15 raid of the nation's largest truck-stop company alleges that sales employees withheld rebates owed to customers so they could boost profits and pad their commissions.

The transcripts of the secretly recorded conversations with Pilot sales managers indicate a perceived vulnerability among businesses owned by Hispanics in South Florida.

On Monday, Jimmy Haslam, who also is the owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced that members of the sales staff would be placed on administrative leave while the company looks into the allegations. He also said the company would no longer conduct manual transactions, which were calculated by hand by sales staffers instead of through a computer program.

The nicknames for the alleged manual rebate fraud scheme also include variations of "Manual" to become a Hispanic name pronounced "Manuel" or "Manwell."

The transcripts quote Pilot's director of sales for the east region, Kevin Hanscomb, as saying, "They're not stupid, there is a language barrier. So you can get away with a little bit more because they know that they are not going to understand everything that you say."

The transcript continues with quotes from Hanscomb that say Hispanic owners in South Florida would allow some "forgiveness" and believe they may have misunderstood rather than conclude the salesperson was involved in fraud.

Pilot Flying J has more than 650 locations and 23,000 employees; last year, it reported $29.2 billion in sales. Forbes magazine ranks Pilot Flying J as the sixth-largest privately held company in the country.

No charges have been filed in the case as the investigation continues.

Former Miami Dolphins kicker Fuad Reveiz now serves as president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of East Tennessee. He said he does not want to jump to conclusions about the Pilot Flying J investigation. However, in the broader context of the business world as a whole, Reveiz said it is not uncommon for unscrupulous sales people to exploit language barriers.

"As an organization, we pride ourselves on wanting to educate our members on how to run their businesses and make sure abuses do not happen. The key to not allowing yourself to become victimized is education," said Reveiz.

Reveiz said he will take a wait-and-see approach to the investigation of Pilot Flying J. He does not want to paint everyone at the company with a broad brush because of the alleged actions of a few.

"Knowing the Haslam family, I highly doubt it came from above," he said. "That's just me saying that. To me, it would be a shame for all of us to start throwing stones at an organization because of the actions of a couple of people.

"Now, if it happens from above, shame on everybody. But that's something we still have to wait and see if that is the case. Right now all we have are accusations."

In Monday's news conference, Haslam made a statement that included comments about how he was embarrassed by the language in the transcripts. Haslam did not take any questions from the media.

WBIR-TV e-mailed the company in an attempt to get reaction on the transcripts in the context of targeting Hispanics.

In response to an e-mail question on the transcripts in the context of targeting Hispanics, a spokesman replied Tuesday: "Pilot Flying J has said it finds much of the language in the affidavit offensive, embarrassing and out of character with the values and ideals of Pilot Flying J. You can include in that statement any language that disparages any customer or individual for any reason."

When contacted Tuesday about the quotes cited in the transcripts, Hanscomb declined to comment.